these things on the telephone poles?

Andy From Sligo

hi - been seeing these lately in the area on the wooden telegraph poles at the top , i know we are in the process of having fibre optic broadband installed in the area so i am presuming this is to do with that . but just wondering what purpose this thing serves. its got the cable wrapped around it, i just wondered what is the device and what purpose does it serve if someone could tell me please.

I filmed this from the bottom of the pole today - I zoomed in and it looks like its made by 3M :

degsie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3naLGJkl-fc

Andy From Sligo

degsie wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3naLGJkl-fc

thank you for that, so its like a junction box for fibre cables then. - any idea why all that cable is wrapped behind it? - is it because they are in the process of installing it?

emaherx

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

thank you for that, so its like a junction box for fibre cables then. - any idea why all that cable is wrapped behind it? - is it because they are in the process of installing it?

It's so they can work on them at ground level when adding connections. Fiber is difficult to splice.

mickdw

I've been meaning to ask this question for weeks.
These things are popping up all over rural mayo where I live - in very remote locations too. Does it mean fibre is coming in future or already there?

ED E

openeir.ie/Our_Network/

Andy From Sligo

dont suppose you can tell from the photo but I am trying to make out if its a BPEO Size 1 (for branching network) or BPEO Size 1.5 (suitable for FTTH fibre-to-the-home) box

Andy From Sligo

emaherx wrote: »

It's so they can work on them at ground level when adding connections. Fiber is difficult to splice.

ah right, yes I see - makes sense now - be a begger to wire them up a ladder on a windy day!

tsue921i8wljb3

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

dont suppose you can tell from the photo but I am trying to make out if its a BPEO Size 1 (for branching network) or BPEO Size 1.5 (suitable for FTTH fibre-to-the-home) box

They are all being deployed as part of the FTTH rollout. There have been no customers connected to that particular box as you can only see the two main distribution cables entering. The area may not yet be live for orders though.

There are two huge threads in the broadband forum with all the information you could want.

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057871133

tsue921i8wljb3

mickdw wrote: »

I've been meaning to ask this question for weeks.
These things are popping up all over rural mayo where I live - in very remote locations too. Does it mean fibre is coming in future or already there?

The fibre is there if the boxes are on the poles. The area however may not be "live". You can check your premises by entering your Eircode on:

https://fibrerollout.ie (check rural 300K) to see if you'll be passed and

https://www.eir.ie/broadband/1000mb-fibre/

to see if it is available.

Andy From Sligo

Genevieve Echoing Bacon wrote: »

They are all being deployed as part of the FTTH rollout. There have been no customers connected to that particular box as you can only see the two main distribution cables entering. The area may not yet be live for orders though.

There are two huge threads in the broadband forum with all the information you could want.

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057871133

oooh now this has made me really excited now - I thought our little village was just getting FTTC , they dis cite on the rollout that FTTH would be coming but by past experiences of fibre promised ... and then shelved I thought that FTTH would be pie in the sky. - but now this gets very interesting. and because we are around 1.5km from the cabinet I was thinking even if we did get FTTC that we could expect a good enough speed - but now it looks like FFTH being fitted in the area i am more than happy.

the other day i saw a engineer out there at the pole and asked him but he was foreign and not very good at english but in amongst pigeon english i heard the words "fibre" and "2 months" and he stuck 2 fingers up at me lol

tsue921i8wljb3

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

oooh now this has made me really excited now - I thought our little village was just getting FTTC , they dis cite on the rollout that FTTH would be coming but by past experiences of fibre promised ... and then shelved I thought that FTTH would be pie in the sky. - but now this gets very interesting. and because we are around 1.5km from the cabinet I was thinking even if we did get FTTC that we could expect a good enough speed - but now it looks like FFTH being fitted in the area i am more than happy.

the other day i saw a engineer out there at the pole and asked him but he was foreign and not very good at english but in amongst pigeon english i heard the words "fibre" and "2 months" and he stuck 2 fingers up at me lol

Did you check your Eircode on the https://fibrerollout.ie (check 300K)?

There's also a map where they have marked every premises due to get the service in blue (green if already live).

https://fibrerollout.ie/rollout-map/

Andy From Sligo

Genevieve Echoing Bacon wrote: »

Did you check your Eircode on the https://fibrerollout.ie (check 300K)?

There's also a map where they have marked every premises due to get the service in blue (green if already live).

https://fibrerollout.ie/rollout-map/

yes quite reguarly from time to time but have always had my dreams shattered because they kept changing the estimated dates for fibre - one time it said estimated summer 2017 then live late 2017 - then the date changed and said first quarter of 2018 and now

tsue921i8wljb3

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

yes quite reguarly from time to time but have always had my dreams shattered because they kept changing the estimated dates for fibre - one time it said estimated summer 2017 then live late 2017 - then the date changed and said first quarter of 2018 and now

Should not be too long now. I think it was about a month after the boxes were installed that I was able to order. Keep checking https://www.eir.ie/broadband/1000mb-fibre/ to see if you can order.

Andy From Sligo

my next predicament will be can I afford it when it does eventually become available. I am presently on a mmds dish like 12mbps broadband connection (broadband only) @59 per month at my home where I can only get max of 10mbps and that would be around 2am in the morning, in the day 3-4mbps is the norm and heavy times down between 1-2mbps - I guess it must be contention issues due to sharing with others in the area.

Just been looking at the eir prices there - so 45eur for 12months, then 81eur after 12months and thats for up to 150mbps ..... but whats the betting it will be niggling at me (if it were available to me) that I would want the fastest available at up to 1,000mbps @ 65per month and then 101.00 PM after 12 months.

Then its like "buy now and have installation for 99euro (normal price 249.99euro) " well if it's going to take 2 months to install/go live - you wait, knowing my luck it witll become available and installation will go up to 249euro!

Andy From Sligo

Genevieve Echoing Bacon wrote: »

Should not be too long now. I think it was about a month after the boxes were installed that I was able to order. Keep checking https://www.eir.ie/broadband/1000mb-fibre/ to see if you can order.

in the older days when you used to go onto sites like "check to see if you can get eircom broadband in your area" they used to say "sorry, broadband is not available in your area, but put fill out email address into this box and we will inform you by email when it becomes available in to you in your area" - but these new things where you put your eircode in now dont seem to have that option any more of supplying your email address and getting email notification ... or if it is available I havent seen it - do you really have to keep checking back like that with the website to see if its available?

tsue921i8wljb3

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

my next predicament will be can I afford it when it does eventually become available. I am presently on a mmds dish like 12mbps broadband connection (broadband only) @59 per month at my home where I can only get max of 10mbps and that would be around 2am in the morning, in the day 3-4mbps is the norm and heavy times down between 1-2mbps - I guess it must be contention issues due to sharing with others in the area.

Just been looking at the eir prices there - so 45eur for 12months, then 81eur after 12months and thats for up to 150mbps ..... but whats the betting it will be niggling at me (if it were available to me) that I would want the fastest available at up to 1,000mbps @ 65per month and then 101.00 PM after 12 months.

Then its like "buy now and have installation for 99euro (normal price 249.99euro) " well if it's going to take 2 months to install/go live - you wait, knowing my luck it witll become available and installation will go up to 249euro!

I have 300Mb and it is probably overkill for my use. I don't believe many households actually need 1000Mb. Just be aware that you don't have to buy from eir. There are several ISPs selling the service and to get the best deal you should probably switch yearly or at least threaten to. All the companies listed with a circular green home icon can sell the service:

https://fibrerollout.ie/rollout-map/where-to-buy/

tsue921i8wljb3

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

in the older days when you used to go onto sites like "check to see if you can get eircom broadband in your area" they used to say "sorry, broadband is not available in your area, but put fill out email address into this box and we will inform you by email when it becomes available in to you in your area" - but these new things where you put your eircode in now dont seem to have that option any more of supplying your email address and getting email notification ... or if it is available I havent seen it - do you really have to keep checking back like that with the website to see if its available?

AFAIK you do but it's likely that eir will send salespeople door to door trying to sign people up so if you talk to them they might be able to give you the live date.

Johnboy1951

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

my next predicament will be can I afford it when it does eventually become available. I am presently on a mmds dish like 12mbps broadband connection (broadband only) @59 per month at my home where I can only get max of 10mbps and that would be around 2am in the morning, in the day 3-4mbps is the norm and heavy times down between 1-2mbps - I guess it must be contention issues due to sharing with others in the area.

Just been looking at the eir prices there - so 45eur for 12months, then 81eur after 12months and thats for up to 150mbps ..... but whats the betting it will be niggling at me (if it were available to me) that I would want the fastest available at up to 1,000mbps @ 65per month and then 101.00 PM after 12 months.

Then its like "buy now and have installation for 99euro (normal price 249.99euro) " well if it's going to take 2 months to install/go live - you wait, knowing my luck it witll become available and installation will go up to 249euro!

Installation was free from eir until recently .... just my luck to be late getting connected.

€45 per month will be less than my 5Mb/s connection costs presently ..... and it is only a 12 month contract so I can change provider when eir wants to raise the price.

I also have those 'boxes' going up on poles in my area, but the area is delayed because some underground ducting is missing in one spot. As soon as that is sorted we should have the service available in about two months I am told.


BTW, I had some time ago been in touch with openEir who said my area should be done in June ..... and the eir test tells me second half of 2018, so both seem to be correct.

Looking forward to getting connected to real broadband

Andy From Sligo

Genevieve Echoing Bacon wrote: »

AFAIK you do but it's likely that eir will send salespeople door to door trying to sign people up so if you talk to them they might be able to give you the live date.

we had an eir door to door salesman in early January was teetering when he said "Fibre is due to be switched on end of January in this area, and when it becomes live we will switch you onto fibre automatically" but I held off ... so see now we are into June and it still hasnt gone live - mind you he was offering free installation at that time. We do have a telephone socket in the house but its absolutely dead ... no tone whatsover coming up it - not even one where it only has to be connected at the exchange. - i remember moving to a house Ireland back in the 90's and Telecom Eireann wanting 150 Irish punts to connect us even back then

mickdw

As I said earlier, Ive seen these boxes in very rural parts of north mayo. If Eir are managing to get fibre to one off houses in these areas, well I don't understand all the talk about Government broadband plans and need to roll out proper broadband. Surely Eir must be on the brink of providing a good service all on their own?

Andy From Sligo

im surprised because I heard that about the government shelving plans for rural areas .... and then I see all these devices going up on poles and it looking like fibre is finally coming to rural villages and the like

tsue921i8wljb3

mickdw wrote: »

As I said earlier, Ive seen these boxes in very rural parts of north mayo. If Eir are managing to get fibre to one off houses in these areas, well I don't understand all the talk about Government broadband plans and need to roll out proper broadband. Surely Eir must be on the brink of providing a good service all on their own?

No that is not the case at all. The National Broadband Plan originally had 840000 premises in it. eir then said we will connect 300000 of those premises at our own cost. This took the 300000 out of the plan but left 540000 behind. eir nor any other commercial operator have plans currently to roll out fibre broadband to these 540000 premises. This is now where the Government must step in and subsidise connections for these homes.

mickdw

But my point was that these boxes are everywhere locally here in North mayo. Next stop America kind of place. As rural and remote as it gets with the occasional one off house.
If eir can make it here, well ......They can make it anywhere.

UrbanFret

Any Idea How many homes can be connected to each distribution box?

tsue921i8wljb3

mickdw wrote: »

But my point was that these boxes are everywhere locally here in North mayo. Next stop America kind of place. As rural and remote as it gets with the occasional one off house.
If eir can make it here, well ......They can make it anywhere.

They may be everywhere in your area but that just means you've been lucky. There are plenty of areas that have been left out. Of course they could install them anywhere but they won't because of costs.

tsue921i8wljb3

UrbanFret wrote: »

Any Idea How many homes can be connected to each distribution box?

I think there are 13 ports on the distribution point for drop cables to homes but I haven't seen anywhere where they have used that amount. I'd say the average seems to be 4-5 premises.

tsue921i8wljb3

UrbanFret wrote: »

Any Idea How many homes can be connected to each distribution box?

I saw you said in another thread that you have no Eircode. Is that still the case? You're going to find it extremely difficult to order. As far as I can see if you don't have an Eircode Openeir won't acknowledge your existence.

Andy From Sligo

UrbanFret wrote: »

Any Idea How many homes can be connected to each distribution box?

if its one of these boxes:



then it says 12 cassettes .... but then it goes onto say "Splice Capacity
144 fusion splice, 72 mechanical" so does the 144 fusion splice mean that it can serve 144 properties???

if its only 12 properties thats not a lot and hardly worth their while fitting them is it?

tsue921i8wljb3

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

if its one of these boxes:



then it says 12 cassettes .... but then it goes onto say "Splice Capacity
144 fusion splice, 72 mechanical" so does the 144 fusion splice mean that it can serve 144 properties???

if its only 12 properties thats not a lot and hardly worth their while fitting them is it?

No it can't serve 144 premises. A fusion splice is the joining of two separate fibres. Think about 144 cables coming out of the box and along poles and imagine how unwieldy it would be. The box may be able to serve 13 homes but the way they have designed the network each box serves on average 4-5.

Andy From Sligo

Genevieve Echoing Bacon wrote: »

They may be everywhere in your area but that just means you've been lucky. There are plenty of areas that have been left out. Of course they could install them anywhere but they won't because of costs.

i think we only have one in our area now because there is a primary school, catholic Church and a bed and breakfast and a housing estate at the back of us - maybe that warrant them fitting it .

until recently I thought we were just getting FTTC and that was going to be it for the village and most would have been thankful for that because the most people could get was 8mbps down on a good day on ADSL - the cabinet for the village is approx 1.5km away from my house and i was thinking if they were doing FTTC then what a paltry speed i would get being that far from the cabinet, nothing to write home about. and i wouldnt have said the copper lines from the cabinet to my area were that brilliant , some overhead copper lines open to all the elements, wind and rain ad what have you, some wooden poles leaning, trees growing in between lines , plants and mould growing up the poles ect ..

tsue921i8wljb3

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

i think we only have one in our area now because there is a primary school, catholic Church and a bed and breakfast and a housing estate at the back of us - maybe that warrant them fitting it .

until recently I thought we were just getting FTTC and that was going to be it for the village and most would have been thankful for that because the most people could get was 8mbps down on a good day on ADSL - the cabinet for the village is approx 1.5km away from my house and i was thinking if they were doing FTTC then what a paltry speed i would get being that far from the cabinet, nothing to write home about. and i wouldnt have said the copper lines from the cabinet to my area were that brilliant , some overhead copper lines open to all the elements, wind and rain ad what have you, some wooden poles leaning, trees growing in between lines , plants and mould growing up the poles ect ..

There will definitely be more than one distribution point in your area. They can be housed underground in access chambers so you might not see them all.

FTTH is so much more suited to dispersed rural housing as it doesn't have the distance limitations of copper.

Andy From Sligo

Genevieve Echoing Bacon wrote: »

No it can't serve 144 premises. A fusion splice is the joining of two separate fibres. Think about 144 cables coming out of the box and along poles and imagine how unwieldy it would be. The box may be able to serve 13 homes but the way they have designed the network each box serves on average 4-5.

blimey really, only 4-5 premises! ... but yes would look unsightly with 144 cables coming out of it .... but I thought fibre optic cables these days can hold loads of strands of fibres in them in one cable? like this :







- no, have I that wrong? - i thought this is what was inside these fibre optic cables that they are dragging across the top of the wooden poles?

tsue921i8wljb3

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

blimey really, only 4-5 premises! ... but yes would look unsightly with 144 cables coming out of it .... but I thought fibre optic cables these days can hold loads of strands of fibres in them in one cable? like this :







- no, have I that wrong? - i thought this is what was inside these fibre optic cables that they are dragging across the top of the wooden poles?

No you have it right. The cable on the poles has 36 individual fibres. It is about 8mm in diameter.

However each home served needs it's own cable. The cable into the house is smaller about 5mm x 2mm and it contains two separate fibres of which only one is used. That is why they need lots of distribution boxes.

Andy From Sligo

Genevieve Echoing Bacon wrote: »

No you have it right. The cable on the poles has 32 individual fibres. It is about 8mm in diameter.

However each home served needs it's own cable. The cable into the house is smaller about 5mm x 2mm and it contains two separate fibres of which only one is used. That is why they need lots of distribution boxes.

oh right - thanks

Andy From Sligo

is the FTTH system being used here called passive GPON then and splitted by prisms - if it is this system then you share your connection (even though its encrypted) with the neighbours and can still suffer from contention at peak times?

tsue921i8wljb3

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

is the FTTH system being used here called passive GPON then and splitted by prisms - if it is this system then you share your connection (even though its encrypted) with the neighbours and can still suffer from contention at peak times?

That is the system they are using yes. A split ratio of 1:32 so up to 32 homes share 2.49 Gb/s downstream and 1.24 Gb/s upstream. I haven't heard anyone complain of contention and as I said before there are two massive threads in the Broadband forum with lots of people connected. Here is the downstream on my 300 Mb connection over the past seven days:



That is the max you'll get out of an eir 300Mb connection.

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=104460213
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=104500076

UND1534 manufactured by Acome in France
Single-mode fibre G652D (N8228A)
36 Fibres (3 tubes x 12 fibres)
O.D. 8.3mm




Disassembled offcut of the cable, 36 Fibre (3x12)


Outer sheath on the left
2 fibre tubes (blue & green)
3 strands of yarn as strength member
1 fibre tube (orange) followed by the 12 strands of fibre from that tube, in no particular order, - turquoise, violet, orange, brown, red, blue, pink, grey, black, yellow, green, white

UrbanFret

Genevieve Echoing Bacon wrote: »

I saw you said in another thread that you have no Eircode. Is that still the case? You're going to find it extremely difficult to order. As far as I can see if you don't have an Eircode Openeir won't acknowledge your existence.

Yes ive being trying to get one for ages. Eventually an post replied to me and say they will assign one to me in the next update. Every quarter I think. So hopefully i get one soon. Its a real nuisance as a lot of sites look for it now.

tsue921i8wljb3

UrbanFret wrote: »

Yes ive being trying to get one for ages. Eventually an post replied to me and say they will assign one to me in the next update. Every quarter I think. So hopefully i get one soon. Its a real nuisance as a lot of sites look for it now.

Unfortunately in relation to this fibre broadband I don't think you are going to be connected without an Eircode. Even when you do finally get an Eircode there is no guarantee that Openeir will add you to the database of passed homes. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I just wanted to let you know where you stand.

What you could do is contact Openeir at fibrepower@openeir.ie explaining your situation. Include a screenshot of the map showing your home beside the other premises that will be passed. Explain that you should be getting an Eircode soon. There is every chance that they will ignore you or give you some generic response about the plan being fixed and there is nothing they can do, however it is worth a shot.

UrbanFret

Genevieve Echoing Bacon wrote: »

Unfortunately in relation to this fibre broadband I don't think you are going to be connected without an Eircode. Even when you do finally get an Eircode there is no guarantee that Openeir will add you to the database of passed homes. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I just wanted to let you know where you stand.

What you could do is contact Openeir at fibrepower@openeir.ie explaining your situation. Include a screenshot of the map showing your home beside the other premises that will be passed. Explain that you should be getting an Eircode soon. There is every chance that they will ignore you or give you some generic response about the plan being fixed and there is nothing they can do, however it is worth a shot.

Ill give that a shot so.Thanks! An post says the eircode database is updated every 3 months. Would that be after each quarter meaning the next update would be in July? The gov.ie website has this info on it in relation to Broadband.

Map updates use the latest version of GeoDirectory which are revised every three months. As a result, the number of premises in all areas of the Map, including the LIGHT BLUE areas(areas where eir has committed to commercial rural deployment plans to rollout high speed broadband to 300,000 premises by the end of 2018)., may change from version to version. Changes might arise because of inaccuracies found and corrected or because premises become derelict or demolished (net reduction) or new buildings get built (net increase).

Its hard to believe I don't have an eircode after receiving mail at this address for over 4 years now.

tsue921i8wljb3

UrbanFret wrote: »

Ill give that a shot so.Thanks! An post says the eircode database is updated every 3 months. Would that be after each quarter meaning the next update would be in July? The gov.ie website has this info on it in relation to Broadband.

Map updates use the latest version of GeoDirectory which are revised every three months. As a result, the number of premises in all areas of the Map, including the LIGHT BLUE areas(areas where eir has committed to commercial rural deployment plans to rollout high speed broadband to 300,000 premises by the end of 2018)., may change from version to version. Changes might arise because of inaccuracies found and corrected or because premises become derelict or demolished (net reduction) or new buildings get built (net increase).

Its hard to believe I don't have an eircode after receiving mail at this address for over 4 years now.

My guess is it would be September but I really don't know much about how Eircodes get allocated.

In relation to the new builds there is a clause in the contract for new builds to be included as they get Eircodes. The only thing going against you is technically you may not be in a covered area. You're at the end of a line so Openeir may say "we will leave him for the NBP". If they do say that I would be contacting the Department complaining as it could be argued either way really. All your immediate neighbours will be covered.

The Cush

UrbanFret wrote: »

An post says the eircode database is updated every 3 months. Would that be after each quarter meaning the next update would be in July?

From the Eircode website

The next quarterly update will be displayed on our systems in ​August 2018.

If your property has been in existence for many years and you cannot find it on the Eircode Finder, please get in touch with our contact centre and they will be happy to help you. You can contact Eircode either by submitting a query or contact us on 0818 300 005.

https://www.eircode.ie/getting-an-eircode

UrbanFret

The Cush wrote: »

From the Eircode website

That's good. I did contact eir and they told me to contact an post as it was their responsibility to allocate eircodes. Ill give them a ring anyway. Thanks for the help lads. Good info on this thread.

UrbanFret

This is the reply I have got so it looks looks like until I get that Eircode Im in limbo,

"Thank you for your email.

To both place a fibre order and asses if it is available an eircode is required.

Once your eircode is provided and eircode "the company" has updated our systems with your eircode details only then can we progress your request.

Kind Regards.

Didn't know you could order asses of them!

tsue921i8wljb3

UrbanFret wrote: »

This is the reply I have got so it looks looks like until I get that Eircode Im in limbo,

"Thank you for your email.

To both place a fibre order and asses if it is available an eircode is required.

Once your eircode is provided and eircode "the company" has updated our systems with your eircode details only then can we progress your request.

Kind Regards.

Didn't know you could order asses of them!

Was that from Openeir? If so it's at least somewhat positive in that they didn't flat out refuse to deal with you and tell you to wait for the NBP.

UrbanFret

Genevieve Echoing Bacon wrote: »

Was that from Openeir? If so it's at least somewhat positive in that they didn't flat out refuse to deal with you and tell you to wait for the NBP.

Yes that was from openeir. I think the fact i would be the only house in my town land not getting it if they refuse might work in my favour. The townland is on the ftth rollout.

Andy From Sligo

just wondering with all this hot weather around 30c at the moment does fibre get affected by heat like this at all, especially when its run overground like this on the wooden poles?

ED E

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

just wondering with all this hot weather around 30c at the moment does fibre get affected by heat like this at all, especially when its run overground like this on the wooden poles?

You've a very active imagination.


Its rated for use in Sweden at -40c and in Aus at +50c. No bodge here.

Andy From Sligo

ED E wrote: »

You've a very active imagination.


Its rated for use in Sweden at -40c and in Aus at +50c. No bodge here.

oh good i will take that as a 'they will be fine' then

not a very active imagination, its just i am not a fibre cable 'expert' and thought maybe that heat could affect them in some way thats all

degsie

Glass melts at around 1400oC, so should be ok.